Melbourne lockdown could last until Christmas as state battles coronavirus cases

Melburnians may be facing a much longer period of restrictions as Victorian authorities struggle to drive down coronavirus cases.

There are reports Melbourne could be in lockdown until Christmas as Victorian authorities struggle to bring coronavirus cases under control, a scenario that has been described as an “absolute disaster”.

According to The Australian, the possibility of restrictions lasting many months, even if the current lockdown is eventually relaxed, have been discussed at the highest levels of government.

Asked about whether a lockdown until Christmas was feasible, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt told Today: “I don’t want to put a time frame on it, respectfully.

“It’s an initial six weeks. It will take all of that six weeks. There’s no question about that.

“But we will just have to do what is necessary to flatten the curve for a second time.

“It’s difficult. It can be frightening. But it is achievable and I know that we will do it because we’ve done it before.”

Victoria’s current six-week lockdown is due to finish on August 16 but despite already being in lockdown for two weeks, coronavirus cases have not started coming down yet.

Yesterday, the state recorded a record-high number of 484 new cases, pushing Australia to 502 new cases: its highest number of daily infections since the epidemic began.

According to The Australian, senior government figures said Premier Daniel Andrews said he wanted daily case numbers “in the single digits” before reopening the economy. It has not recorded sustained single-digit numbers since June 13.

Mr Andrews acknowledged yesterday that the lockdown in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire could continue for longer if numbers didn’t come down.

“Unless we have people who get tested staying at home and isolating until they get their results, then we will not see these numbers come down … and a six-week shutdown will not be for six weeks. It will run for much longer than that,” he said.

Australian Medical Association president Dr Tony Bartone said it would be an “absolute disaster” if there had to be a lockdown until Christmas, which would require another four months of restrictions.

He noted that current measures should have seen a decrease in numbers but this hadn’t happened.

“Clearly we need a circuit breaker we need all Melburnians to understand this is serious,” he told Today.

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"It seems that we're always two steps behind..." Tony Jones on Victoria's coronavirus crisis. #9Today pic.twitter.com/bumBfAopXd

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) July 22, 2020

Dr Bartone said people were becoming frustrated and complacent and the state needed to reassert leadership.

“That’s why we called on National Cabinet to reconvene and provide that important circuit breaker to try to create that sense of this is really serious,” he said.

“We need some leadership … (a) war time cabinet is something that has come to mind – we need that co-ordination between everybody in the space, not just the Victorian Government, because this is now a national problem.

“What happens in the next week is going to be crucial.”

Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said there was concern over how long businesses could sustain themselves.

“Our stats show that currently out of the 16,000 businesses we have registered in the city, 13,000 of them are accessing JobKeeper,” she told Today.

“We know that of the hospitality businesses we’ve surveyed, about 45 per cent of them are closed. And of that number, about 7 per cent have already decided they won’t reopen.

“So the longer this goes on, the more dire that situation is.”

Yesterday, Mr Andrews said the key factor that was driving numbers higher, was sick people waiting too long before getting tested.

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Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has warned the Melbourne lockdown could be extended if cases are not brought under control. Picture: Ian Currie/NCA NewsWire

“I’m very unhappy and very sad to have to report that nearly 9 in 10 – or 3400 cases – did not isolate between when they first felt sick and when they went to get a test,” Mr Andrews said, referring to the 3810 cases identified between July 7 and July 21.

“It’s simply unacceptable. If you have symptoms, the only thing you can and must do is get tested immediately,” he said.

He said while most people did eventually get tested, in the meantime they were going about their business with symptoms at the height of their infectivity and giving it to others.

Mr Andrews said half of those tested were also continuing to do their shopping or go about their daily lives while waiting for a result and this was also potentially infecting others.

Authorities hope that new rules to require people to wear masks in public, which came into effect on Thursday, will help to bring down infections.